{"id":59634,"date":"2025-05-13T12:12:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T12:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2025\/05\/13\/posthaste-canadians-arent-the-only-tourists-shunning-america-as-foreign-visits-plummet\/"},"modified":"2025-05-13T12:12:06","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T12:12:06","slug":"posthaste-canadians-arent-the-only-tourists-shunning-america-as-foreign-visits-plummet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2025\/05\/13\/posthaste-canadians-arent-the-only-tourists-shunning-america-as-foreign-visits-plummet\/","title":{"rendered":"Posthaste: Canadians aren't the only tourists shunning America as foreign visits plummet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n
\"A
\n<\/p>\n

Canadian travellers have been giving the United States the cold shoulder since President <\/p>\n

Donald Trump<\/p>\n

ramped up <\/p>\n

tariffs and sovereignty attacks<\/p>\n

\u2014 but they are not the only ones. <\/p>\n

The latest travel data shows that international arrivals to the U.S. dropped across the board as trade tensions and stricter border policies spurred international travellers to cancel or postpone trips, said Ksenia Bushmeneva, an economist with Toronto Dominion Bank, <\/p>\n

in a report out yesterday<\/p>\n

. <\/p>\n

\u201cNegative sentiment among potential travellers has risen, prompting boycotts and broader hesitancy to visit the U.S.,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Overseas arrivals to the United States dropped about 12 per cent in March from last year, with the states most popular with overseas visitors \u2014 New York, Florida, California, Nevada and Texas \u2014 suffering the most, she said. <\/p>\n

Air arrivals from the Caribbean and Central America led the decline by percentage, followed by Mexico, Western Europe and Canada. <\/p>\n

Travellers from Western Europe, which account for about 18 per cent of international visitors to the U.S. and are the main source for New York State, were down by 190,000 visitors. <\/p>\n

America\u2019s nearest neighbours Canada and Mexico represent 50 per cent of international traffic and both saw steep declines in March, said Bushmeneva. <\/p>\n

Airport arrivals from Canada, the largest source of international travellers to the U.S., were down 13.5 per cent (about 112,000 visitors) and return trips by car declined even more, falling 32 per cent or 700,000. The drop-off will hit Florida, New York, Washington, California and Michigan the hardest. <\/p>\n

Nor is it looking like the summer travel season will turn this trend. <\/p>\n

\u201cFuture flight bookings from Canada have collapsed, declining by 70 per cent for every month through September,\u201d said Bushmeneva.\u00a0 Hotel bookings have fallen 7.8 per cent from a year ago, and are down 13 per cent in New York City. <\/p>\n

Travel and tourism<\/p>\n

is a multi-trillion-dollar industry in the United States, the biggest in the world, and the slowdown in foreign visitors will weigh not only on this sector but also on the whole economy. \u00a0Last year international visitors spent $286 billion in the U.S. \u2014 which equals about what Americans spent buying used cars, said Bushmeneva. <\/p>\n

New data from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), shared exclusively with Bloomberg, projects that the U.S. is on track to lose US$12.5 billion in travel revenue this year. Of the 184 economies analyzed by WTTC, America is the only country set to lose tourism dollars. <\/p>\n

\u201cOther countries are really rolling out the welcome mat, and it feels like the U.S. is putting up a \u2018we are closed\u2019 sign at their doorway,\u201d said WTTC chief executive Julia Simpson. <\/p>\n

Tourism makes up about 3 per cent of U.S. gross domestic product, and employs 20 million people. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a labour-intensive sector, it is a powerful engine for job creation \u2014 last year alone, leisure and hospitality accounted for 16 per cent of all private sector new jobs,\u201d said Bushmeneva. <\/p>\n

While foreign travellers are important, domestic tourism is the real money-maker, accounting for about 75 per cent of spending in the U.S. Now it too is showing signs of strain. Fewer Americans plan to travel this year, including within their own country, as volatile stock markets, economic uncertainty and the threat of rising inflation undermine confidence, the latest data shows. <\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0Sign up here to get Posthaste delivered straight to your inbox.<\/strong><\/em> <\/p>\n

\n


\"\"<\/strong> <\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Finally some good news on Canada\u2019s trade. March data may have shown a steep decline in exports to the United States, but it was offset by a rise in shipments to the rest of the world, as <\/p>\n

today\u2019s chart from Toronto Dominion bank shows<\/p>\n

. <\/p>\n

Another bright side, about 50 per cent of Canadian goods heading to the U.S. were compliant with the Canada-United-States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) in March, up from the average of 38 per cent in 2024. That means more goods are dodging Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs. <\/p>\n

\u201cNonetheless, as long as the uncertainty about the trade relationship persists, firms are understandably cautious. With the malaise hanging over the economy it\u2019s unlikely things will turn a corner soon,\u201d wrote Andrew Hencic, TD senior economist. <\/p>\n

\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

    \n
  • Prime Minister Mark Carney reveals his new cabinet. Members will be sworn in at a ceremony in Ottawa this morning.<\/li>\n
  • Today\u2019s Data:<\/strong> United States inflation, NFIB small business optimism<\/li>\n
  • Earnings:<\/strong> Power Corp of Canada, CAE Inc., Endeavour Silver Corp.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \n

    \"\"<\/strong> <\/p>\n

    \"<\/p>\n

    <\/figure>\n
    \n

    \"\"<\/strong> <\/p>\n

      \n
    • Canada\u2019s unicorn problem: New study explores why our best startups fail to take flight<\/li>\n
    • Ask yourself as an investor: What would Buffett do?<\/li>\n
    • Donald Trump seeks bromance and billions as he heads to Gulf<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n

      \"\" <\/p>\n

      Married couple Gerard, 56, and Penelope, 54, want to leave the grind of corporate Canada sooner rather than later \u2014 but only if their investments are able to generate the $90,000 a year they believe will allow them to live the retirement they want. Is retiring in four years, or even better in two to three years, possible? <\/p>\n

      Find out what Family Finance says. <\/p>\n

      \n
      Are you worried about having enough for retirement? Do you need to adjust your portfolio? Are you starting out or making a change and wondering how to build wealth? Are you trying to make ends meet? Drop us a line at\u00a0<\/span>wealth@postmedia.com<\/span>\u00a0with your contact info and the gist of your problem and we\u2019ll find some experts to help you out while writing a Family Finance story about it (we\u2019ll keep your name out of it, of course).<\/span><\/div>\n
      \n

      McLister on mortgages<\/h2>\n

      Want to learn more about mortgages? Mortgage strategist Robert McLister\u2019s <\/p>\n

      Financial Post column <\/p>\n

      can help navigate the complex sector, from the latest trends to financing opportunities you won\u2019t want to miss. Plus check his <\/p>\n

      mortgage rate page<\/p>\n

      for Canada\u2019s lowest national mortgage rates, updated daily. <\/p>\n

      \n

      Financial Post on YouTube<\/h2>\n

      Visit the Financial Post\u2019s <\/p>\n

      YouTube channel<\/p>\n

      for interviews with Canada\u2019s leading experts in business, economics, housing, the energy sector and more. <\/p>\n

      \n

      Today\u2019s Posthaste was written by Pamela Heaven with additional reporting from Financial Post staff, The Canadian Press and Bloomberg.<\/em> <\/p>\n

      Have a story idea, pitch, embargoed report, or a suggestion for this newsletter? Email us at\u00a0<\/p>\n

      posthaste@postmedia.com<\/p>\n

      . <\/p>\n

      \n
        \n
      • You might not have heard of this recession indicator \u2014 but it’s getting louder<\/li>\n
      • Just when you thought Toronto’s condo market couldn’t get any worse \u2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Bookmark our website and support our journalism:<\/strong> Don\u2019t miss the business news you need to know \u2014 add\u00a0financialpost.com\u00a0to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here<\/em> <\/p>\n

        <\/img><\/img>
        \n
        \n
        Posthaste: Canadians aren't the only tourists shunning America as foreign visits plummet<\/a>
        \n
        2025-05-13 12:12:06<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Canadian travellers have been giving the United States the cold shoulder since President Donald Trump ramped up tariffs and sovereignty attacks \u2014 but they are not the only ones. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/59635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}